Harry Potter and the Last Marauder
by Ara Sea
Summary: POST OOTP. Harry is entering his sixth year at Hogwarts ..an adventure fic revolving around the veil Sirius fell through and a plot to destroy the last true Marauder.
1. The Ambush

DISCLAIMER: Nothing you will see in this text has been created by me except the plot. The characters, worlds, and words all belong to J. K. Rowling.  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
The Ambush  
  
It was a sweltering July afternoon, and a tall, gangly boy with unruly black hair lay sprawled on his bed, face burrowed into a pitifully flat pillow. He awoke with a start as a large brown owl soared in through his window and pecked him with her beak persistently until he sat up and untied the letter she bore from her leg. The boy opened it eagerly.  
  
Hi Harry,  
  
Happy birthday! Hope your summer has been okay, and you too, as well. I'm rather sunburned from all the time I've spent out in the sun swimming. Dumbledore says you'll be taken to headquarters as soon as it is feasible, Ron is already there with the rest of his family, and I'm joining them tomorrow. When you get here, I'll give you your birthday present -Ron too.  
  
See you soon,  
  
Hermione  
  
Harry Potter crumpled up the letter and chucked it across the room, falling back onto his bed with a threatening groan of the mattress springs. But he didn't care. Just a month before, he had seen the only father figure he had ever known, his godfather Sirius Black, fall through a mysterious veil in the Room of Death, deep down inside the Ministry of Magic. Looking back on it, seeing Sirius fall so slowly, so gracefully -why hadn't anyone caught him? Harry ground his forehead against his knuckles -why hadn't he saved him?  
  
Everyone told him it was no good reminiscing about the past and what might have been, but Harry had cast all their advice aside and gone about things the way he wanted to. And for the past month, he had eaten only enough to sustain himself, cried himself to sleep, and lived the day in a kind of dull oblivion which was, all too rapidly, becoming tedium. Dreams of what might have been haunted his sleep, causing him to wake fitfully in the night. The year before, he had dreamed of a black door at the end of a ghostly corridor, each time venturing further and further into the Department of Mysteries until he had seen his godfather being tortured ..then run to save him from Voldemort. Yet it was so unfair that because of his blunder, Sirius had had to come save him instead ..and fallen to his death.  
  
Harry thought of how Sirius had died for his sake, without ever being given a trial, without Wormtail ever being brought to justice. He had not lived for twelve years in Azkaban, and two years, later, look where he was! Harry choked. A place no one knew, no one could reach, from where no one could return. Even after a month of mourning, Harry had not come to terms with, or even accepted his godfather's death.  
  
Aunt Petunia rapped loudly on Harry's door. "Dinner!" she said curtly, and left without bothering to see if he was coming.  
  
Harry pulled himself away from his musings and walked sullenly downstairs to the dinner table.  
  
"Oh look, Potty's still sad because his godfather died! How sweet!" Dudley sneered.  
  
Harry clenched his fists, spinning around and pulling out his wand, pointing it at Dudley's heart. "Don't - you - dare .." he snarled, waiting until his cousin looked properly horrified before replacing his wand. He sat at the table, across from Dudley, who he ignored. Harry had just dribbled some dressing over his salad when the doorbell rang.  
  
A familiar voice said, "Open up, Dursley."  
  
Another familiar voice said hoarsely, "No, Mad-Eye, not like that -Mr. Dursley? We've come to take Harry -"  
  
Uncle Vernon cast a fleeting look at Aunt Petunia, who gasped and checked to see if any of the neighbors were watching, before closing the drapes over the windows. The room grew steadily hotter as the air failed to circulate. There was a pant and a clatter, and Harry's former Hogwarts professor, Remus Lupin, as well as ex-Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody made their way into the kitchen, accompanied by Uncle Vernon who had gritted his teeth in protest to their being there, face taking on a purple tinge in bottled up rage.  
  
Lupin said kindly to Harry, "Do you have your things? We've come to take you away."  
  
Not sure if he should be thrilled at this bit of information, Harry nodded. "I'll go get them."  
  
Before he left, he saw Lupin and Moody exchange a fleeting glance, but Harry didn't think too much of it. He was upstairs in his room getting his things together when he heard an unearthly scream from Aunt Petunia that raised all the hairs on his neck, as well as some loud clatters and swearing. Unless he was much mistaken, Moody had just muttered a curse vehemently under his breath -they were being ambushed! Harry whipped out his wand and inched downstairs, holding it in front of his body.  
  
"Constant vigilance," he muttered, taking one of Moody's favorite phrases.  
  
When he reached the kitchen, nothing could have prepared him for the sight. Five Death Eaters were there, Lupin and Moody were fighting them valiantly, but they were outnumbered by over 2 to 1 ..the Dursleys had fallen back into a corner, Aunt Petunia whimpering, Dudley cowering, and Uncle Vernon looking horrified in spite of attempts to look brave.  
  
Harry leapt out from behind the corner, aimed his wand at one of the Death Eaters, and roared, "STUPEFY!"  
  
The Death Eater he had been aiming at froze in his tracks, stiffened, and keeled over backwards. Lupin had just caught another Death Eater with the Impedimenta jinx, which had much the same effect as the Stunning Spell, only the victim was still conscious. There were now three active Death Eaters left, and with Harry joining Lupin and Moody, there were three wizards to counteract them. Lupin glanced at the Dursleys often, Harry noticed. His old professor and last friend of Sirius was doing all in his power to block any curses the Death Eaters sent at the Dursleys. Harry knew that their memories would have to be modified after this entire ordeal -or would they?  
  
He ducked a jet of green light, yelling "Petrificus Totalus!" But the Death Eater he had been aiming at ducked to the side, red light firing from the tip of his wand. His hood fell back, and Harry recognized him with grim satisfaction -Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Glancing to the side, Harry saw the man Moody had been fighting fall back, limp form crashing into the dinner table. He made towards Harry, but Harry shook his head, mouthing for him to go help Lupin. Another jet of red light narrowly missed his chest, and Harry retaliated by sending a Stunning Spell back in the direction from where it had come. He was fortunate -his spell hit the Death Eater in the face, and he fell backwards. Harry ran to help Lupin and Moody with three of the Death Eaters who had awoken ..  
  
Half an hour later, the three wizards had the five Death Eaters all stunned and bound with spidery ropes. Moody placed an anti-Disapparation jinx on the men who had been sent to ..sent to what? Harry pondered this for a moment. Sent to kill him? Kidnap him? Or did they somehow find out that Lupin and Moody were going to fetch him tonight ..  
  
Panting, Lupin leaned against the wall, but Moody shook his head tersely and motioned for him to get up. "Get your things, Potter!" he growled. "Dumbledore is on his way, meanwhile, we have to get you out of here."  
  
Harry picked up his trunk and Hedwig's cage, dragging them out to the ambush scene as fast as he could. Moody murmured, "Portus." A chair glowed brightly blue for a moment, then the light faded away.  
  
"Hold on, Harry." Lupin smiled thinly. "One finger will do -"  
  
"And three, two, one .." interrupted Moody.  
  
At he said "one," Harry felt the familiar jerk behind navel, pulling him forward into a vast, spinning universe only accessible when one used a Portkey, as they had just done. Harry landed, sprawled on the ground, at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. With he realized that he would never again see Sirius come strolling through the door, grinning to see Harry, never celebrate another Christmas with him, never -  
  
"Come on, Potter," said Moody. "Mrs. Weasley and Tonks are here. Kingsley's dropping by in a few hours, I expect Dumbledore will be here too ..wonder how he's getting on back there," he added as an afterthought. Harry knew that "back there" referred to his aunt and uncle's house.  
  
Harry frowned slightly. He knew Dumbledore was extremely capable, but still, the Death Eaters would be awake by the time he got there (or maybe he'd already arrived), but where would he put them?  
  
"Harry." A hand touched his shoulder, and Harry looked up into the tired face of Remus Lupin. "Don't worry about it, Dumbledore will know what to do."  
  
Harry nodded, noticing for the first time how old Lupin looked for his age. There were fine lines caused by weariness around his eyes, a wrinkle in his forehead from too much frowning and grief. Come to think of it ..when was the last time he'd ever seen Lupin happy? With a pang, Harry realized that Lupin must be feeling just as bad as Harry ..or worse, at the loss of Sirius. Harry had seen only him go, but Lupin had been there when Harry's mother and father had been killed by Lord Voldemort.  
  
Lupin gave Harry another thin smile, barely recognizable. It was more like his lips cracked open, exposing just a fine sliver of his teeth before they closed again. "I'll help you put your stuff away, there's a lot of catching up you have to do." 


	2. Message By Floo Powder

DISCLAIMER: Nothing you will see in this text has been created by me except the plot. The characters, worlds, and words all belong to J. K. Rowling.  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
Message By Floo Powder  
  
Harry allowed Lupin to lead him up the stairs and into a room Harry recognized as the one he had spent last summer in with Ron.  
  
Lupin raised his wand. "Unpack!" Harry's clothes and belongings were strewn across the room, drawers opening and closing rapidly to hold his clothes. His sneakoscopes rested on the shelves, still spinning slightly on the flat surface.  
  
Harry sat on the bed, watching Lupin finish up with his things. As an afterthought, he decided that it was a bit rude of him not to help, but he shrugged the thought off and waited to be told the things Lupin had promised to tell him.  
  
Finally, Lupin turned to him, giving Harry a tired smile. "Well Harry -" he began, but was cut off by Tonks, who had just run up the stairs and poked her head into the room. In the background, Harry could hear the portrait of ..(he willed himself to ignore the lump in his throat) of Sirius's mum.  
  
"Remus, Harry! Dumbledore has a message for you downstairs!" said Tonks.  
  
"Thanks very much, Nymphadora," said Lupin kindly. He faced Harry again. "I guess I'll tell you what you need to know after we talk to Dumbledore."  
  
Harry nodded and followed his old teacher downstairs, where he barely hid his disappointment. He had been expecting Dumbledore to be there in person, but he had only gone via Floo Powder, for his head was sitting in the fireplace, flames licking his long hair and beard. Harry took a moment to marvel how they did not catch fire ..but then, it was wizard fire.  
  
Lupin had gotten down on his knees in front of the fireplace, and Harry heard him ask, "You dealt with them?" He didn't need to ask who "them" was.  
  
"Yes," replied Dumbledore. "They are all at Hogwarts, where Ministry Aurors are guarding them and interrogating them."  
  
"Is Fudge there?" asked Harry, lowering himself to Lupin's level and staring into the fire.  
  
"Yes, Harry, he is," said Dumbledore.  
  
Lupin smiled faintly. "Wonder how he's getting on with Lucius Malfoy -never crossed that mind of his, Fudge, that his most generous donator is back in with Voldemort."  
  
"Are they going to Azkaban?" Harry asked, a dull pit in his stomach, fearing he already knew the answer.  
  
Dumbledore sighed wearily. "I don't think so, Harry. The dementors are outside Ministry control now, anyone can escape."  
  
"They're not staying at Hogwarts, are they?" inquired Lupin.  
  
"That would be out of the question, Remus," replied Dumbledore. "So would keeping them at the Ministry, they could hear too many things."  
  
Looking over, Harry realized Lupin had his face in his hands. "Nowhere is safe anymore now."  
  
"Ah ..Fudge may not even arrest them," said Dumbledore, his words deepening the hollowness in Harry's stomach. "He could find them innocent, or pardon them."  
  
"But -how could he find them innocent? Wouldn't he use Veritaserum and find out that they attacked .." Harry was going to say "me," but in case he was wrong, he felt it would be rather melodramatic to say it. He realized he'd forgotten all about the Dursleys. "And what happened to the Dursleys?"  
  
Dumbledore held up one hand, halting Harry's stream of questions. "One thing at a time," he murmured. "He could possibly ask the wrong questions. I have not modified your relatives' memories, but they are sworn to secrecy. I thought it best they do not forget what happened, their information could prove valuable in the future. They are safe and well. I offered them Dreamless Potion, but, ah ..they seem to prefer as little contact with magical substances as possible."  
  
Harry grinned in spite of himself, picturing Uncle Vernon's rage when he was asked to consume a magical potion.  
  
" ..Well, I'd best be off, there are other matters that need my attention," Dumbledore was saying now.  
  
"Off with you, Dumbledore," said a gruff voice behind Harry. With a start, he realized that Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks were listening as well. Now that he thought about it, Harry knew how foolish it was to expect other members of the Order not to listen to what Dumbledore had to say -especially since it concerned them all.  
  
Dumbledore's head vanished with a slight pop, and Moody and Tonks went back to what they had been doing before he had given them the report.  
  
"So what were you going to tell me?" Harry asked Lupin.  
  
Lupin hesitated. Harry noticed that his hair had a bit more premature gray in it than last time. "First of all, have you thought any more about the prophecy?"  
  
Harry shook his head stoutly. But he had not forgotten ..either must die at the hands of the other, for neither could live while the other survived ..  
  
"But haven't we been surviving all this time, while the other was alive?" asked Harry abruptly. Lupin seemed to be deeply pondering his answer.  
  
"Have you really been living, Harry?" he asked quietly.  
  
Harry was taken aback by Lupin's response. "Er ..yes?"  
  
"How many times were you happy in the past two years?" continued Remus in that soft voice Harry found unnerving.  
  
His insides twisted uneasily. Whenever he was with Cho, but they had had a row and weren't talking much anymore ..  
  
"I dunno," he said flatly.  
  
"Yes you do," said Lupin, but discontinued the subject. "Well, you realize that the veil Sirius fell through was in the Room of Death?"  
  
Harry nodded, brow furrowing.  
  
"But he was alive when he fell through," said Lupin.  
  
Harry's heart leapt -  
  
"The Ministry is currently researching what happens when someone alive falls through," finished Lupin simply.  
  
"Oh," said Harry. He had been so sure that Lupin was going to tell him that they had found a way to get Sirius out ..  
  
"I just thought you would like to know." Lupin swallowed.  
  
"Can you see thestrals?" Harry asked suddenly.  
  
"Surprisingly, no. You would think, having been in the Order now and before ..but no."  
  
"When was the last time you within eyesight of them?"  
  
"Three years ago," replied Lupin.  
  
Harry swallowed his disappointment. He had been hoping for a date more recent ..but he had to stop living in the past, he scolded himself. Let it go ..Sirius is gone.  
  
The end of summer came around more quickly than Harry imagined, but he packed his bags with a light heart, knowing that he would soon see his friends and be back at his true home, Hogwarts. With a jolt, he realized that there was one other person packing a suitcase at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.  
  
"Lupin?" Harry said incredulously. "Are you coming too?"  
  
Lupin flashed him a quick smile. "Yes I am. I'm going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again."  
  
"But I thought people wouldn't want you to teach their kids." Harry frowned.  
  
"Now that the public has seen that Dumbledore was telling the truth about Voldemort's return, they trust him more, and he appealed to the Ministry to allow me to return."  
  
"That's great!" exclaimed Harry. "Ron and Hermione will be thrilled."  
  
Sure enough, Hermione squealed when she saw Harry and Lupin board the Hogwarts Express the next day, and Ron bellowed his congratulations and thumped Lupin on the back. The three of them seated themselves next to Lupin, knowing full well that Draco Malfoy, a boy they loathed and who hated them as well wouldn't be able to hex them with a teacher nearby.  
  
When Malfoy passed, Harry and Ron waved in a very fake attempt to look friendly, flashing him their most winning smiles. Hermione was immersed in a book and ignored them. Malfoy shot them a look of utmost dislike, stalking past as loudly as he could. As soon as he passed, Ron and Harry laughed, and Hermione smiled at them briefly before returning to her book. Lupin was dozing, head leaned against the wall for support.  
  
As they neared Hogwarts, Ron asked Hermione, "D'you think we should wake him up?"  
  
"Let him sleep for a few more minutes," said Hermione, motioning toward Lupin. "He looks really tired."  
  
Ron leaned back in his seat, disgruntled. Harry didn't blame him, he was bored as well.  
  
Three minutes later, Ron shook Lupin awake without consulting Hermione. The professor awoke with a start.  
  
"Wha .."  
  
"We're almost there," explained Harry.  
  
"Oh, thanks very much," said Lupin, shaking his head to clear whatever it was he'd been dreaming about and checked to make sure he had his suitcase.  
  
Hermione had finished her book and was slipping it inside her trunk neatly. Ron and Harry were just finishing off the Chocolate Frogs they had ordered when the snack lady rolled the cart past their compartment.  
  
It seemed like moments later, though it was minutes, when the Hogwarts Express rumbled to a stop. They all rose, sliding their compartment door open so they could join the flood of students now trickling off the train. The thestral-pulled carriages were waiting, and Harry felt a rush of mixed feelings for the skeletal horses. The year before, they had taken him and his friends to the Department of Mysteries. All of a sudden, Lupin grabbed Harry's arm.  
  
"Harry -I don't see them," whispered Lupin. Confused, Harry looked up at the professor's face, which was pale.  
  
"Professor Lupin, what don't you s-"  
  
"The thestrals, Harry. I don't see the thestrals!" 


	3. Back to Hogwarts

CHAPTER THREE  
  
Back to Hogwarts  
  
Harry stared at Lupin in amazement. "You're -you're serious? You really don't see them?"  
  
"No," said Lupin hoarsely. "Then Sirius must not be -"  
  
"Dead," finished Harry. "If he's alive -then where is he?"  
  
Lupin sighed heavily. "I don't know if he's alive ..he's just not dead."  
  
Harry plastered a fake grin on his face and waved at some of his classmates, then turned back to his teacher, frowning. He didn't bother trying to hide the disappointment in his voice and expression, but he was still able to hope that whatever state of existence Sirius had been diminished to, they'd be able to find him and ..  
  
Harry shook his head in frustration. And what? He recalled the Triwizard Tournament that had been hosted at Hogwarts back in fourth year, where he had witnessed Voldemort's return. Wormtail had helped him carry out a spell, some sort of process, that had restored him to full strength. It was ancient Dark Magic, but if the need arose, could they attempt the same for Sirius?  
  
Looking back to Professor Lupin, Harry saw him do a peculiar thing. Lupin had withdrawn a pair of shabby gloves from his faded robes, and pulled them over his hands before grasping the silver handle of a thestral-pulled carriage and climbing in. He gave Harry a small smile and motioned to something (or someone) behind the sixteen year old's thin form.  
  
Harry, who had been so engrossed in what Lupin was doing was startled, when he turned around, to see Ron and Hermione waving frantically at him. They clearly wanted him to sit with them in their carriage.  
  
As Harry continued to stare blankly ahead, Ron shouted, "Oy, Harry! Come on!"  
  
"Huh?" said Harry, shaking his head. "Oh ..right." He looked once more at Professor Lupin, who was carefully peeling off the gloves, then ran to the carriage his friends were sitting in, climbed in, and pulled the door shut.  
  
No sooner had he done so their carriage's thestral beat his hooves against the pavement and walked forward. Harry swayed comfortably back and forth as they rumbled forward, joining the ghostly parade headed towards the castle.  
  
Dinner that night was most enjoyable; as usual, the house-elves who prepared the welcoming feast had outdone themselves. With mouths full of chicken, potatoes, and whatever else their stomachs desired, Harry and Ron talked spiritedly about Quidditch, a wizard sport played on broomsticks. Hermione was writing line after line on a long bit of parchment, quill racing across the page.  
  
"Hey Hermione." Ron nudged her. "Writing to Vicky again, are you?"  
  
Frowning at him crossly, Hermione replied scathingly, "Yes, what's it to you?"  
  
Taken aback, Ron glanced at Harry, who shrugged and returned to his drumstick.  
  
"Nothing," replied Ron finally. "I was just wondering."  
  
"Well his name's Viktor, not Vicky," Hermione said, signing the letter and sealing it inside an envelope.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, then glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied that they wouldn't be overheard, he leaned in and said in a low voice, "Did you hear about the -the veil thing?"  
  
"What about it?" Harry replied quietly.  
  
"Well -they found out that if someone alive goes through, they don't move on to, well, some sort of afterlife, they can't, 'cause they're not dead yet, you know? They stay alive since they can't die, but they can't get out, either."  
  
Harry nodded. Ron's dad worked at the Ministry, he must have heard about it. "So how do you get someone out?" Harry asked.  
  
Ron looked uncomfortable. "You can't, right now. They haven't figured that bit out yet. But they do know that someone stuck in between doesn't age, Dad said they escape time or something like that." He waved a hand in the air, then stuffed a spoon full of mashed potatoes into his mouth, chewing in bliss.  
  
"How do they know that?"  
  
"Dunno," said Ron darkly. "Dad didn't say any more than what I just told you -to me, at least."  
  
"Oh." Harry sat back, slightly disappointed but glad to have heard of what was going on, at least. He hadn't forgotten the summer before, where he'd been left in the dark about what was going on in the wizarding world. It was his fault Sirius had gone through, so he had to be the one to find the way to bring his godfather back ..  
  
Hermione and Ron glanced at each other. "Harry," said Hermione in a pacifying voice. "I'm sure Dumbledore has it under control, you don't have to go and do it yourself."  
  
Harry whirled on her. "It was my fault Sirius went through, I should be the one to bring him back."  
  
"Yes, I know how you feel ..but Harry, last time you tried to fix things, well ..they didn't turn out the way you wanted," continued Hermione, nervous in case Harry took her hint too well.  
  
Harry opened his mouth to retort to this comment, but Ron spoke up before he had a chance to vent his anger on Hermione.  
  
"She's not blaming you! She's just saying not to do anything until you're sure of what's going to happen," said Ron, reaching for his pumpkin juice.  
  
"Like you would know," said Harry bitterly. "You were off in lalaland, giggling like mad. You weren't even there, you never saw!"  
  
One glance at his friends and Harry knew that he was behaving the way they feared he would.  
  
"You knew too, Hermione?" Harry asked, tearing a chunk of meat off a chicken leg ferociously. Suddenly his gladness that Ron had told him about the veil was disappearing, and disappearing fast.  
  
"Well -yes, but -"  
  
"Why doesn't ANYONE tell me ANYTHING? Why am I the LAST PERSON to know about plans for MY LIFE?" burst out Harry angrily.  
  
"It's not your life, it's Sirius's life," said Hermione coolly. "We're getting really tired of you taking your anger out on us like last year."  
  
Ron sat deeper in his seat, ears turning slightly pink, but spoke up all the same. "She's right, you know ..it isn't your job to save everybody."  
  
Their remarks ringing in his ear, Harry savagely speared a pea on his fork. He could hardly believe the injustice -after all the times he'd saved their skins in the past! They'd probably be dead now if it weren't for him. Well fine then, if they didn't want him to save them if they got into trouble, he wouldn't. He didn't say another word to them for the rest of the feast, then stomped furiously up to his dorm, flinging the covers over his body and pretending to be asleep when Ron came up.  
  
He vaguely heard Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Ron come up, and knew they were staring at him.  
  
"Is he asleep?" asked Dean in a hushed voice.  
  
"Highly unlikely," said Ron. "No one can go to sleep the second they get into bed, after just running from the Great Hall to the dorm."  
  
The voice he'd been dreading spoke to him, making Harry grit his teeth.  
  
"I know you're awake, Harry," said Ron.  
  
Harry sat up abruptly, an expression of mock puzzlement on his face. "Now let's see, what else do you know?" he said scathingly.  
  
"That you're being stupid for no good reason."  
  
"Stupid? I'm being stupid, am I? Well that makes two of us, then," retorted Harry, lying back down.  
  
The next morning, Harry didn't go down to breakfast but lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The door to his dormitory opened, he flicked his eyes to see who it was. With a dull spreading sensation in his stomach, he realized it was Hermione, holding a muffin in a napkin.  
  
"I brought you some food," she said gingerly. "You weren't at breakfast."  
  
"Thanks," said Harry, taking it from her and scarfing it down. Hermione was watching him, he realized, probably waiting for him to say something else. Well, he wasn't going to say anything. To his partial dismay, Hermione didn't say anything either, but left, closing the door quietly behind her.  
  
Groaning, Harry pulled himself out of bed, knowing he had to get to class. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to be an Auror now. He'd gotten an "Outstanding" on his Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. and, to his surprise, an "Exceeds Expectations" on everything else except Divination and Potions. Divination, he knew, wasn't important for an Auror to know, but he had to have a N.E.W.T. for Potions and in order to get into the N.E.W.T. Potions class, he had to have scraped an "Outstanding" O.W.L. Harry had only gotten an "Acceptable," so figured he'd have to ask Professor McGonagall to see if there was anything he could do so he could still be an Auror.  
  
Harry was walking down the hallway to Transfiguration, which started in fifteen minutes, when a girl with long hair stopped him, staring dreamily into his eyes.  
  
"Er -hi, Luna," said Harry. She was the only one he really felt comfortable talking about Sirius to, since she was actually somewhat similar to him -she could see the thestrals, and hear the voices behind the veil, too. A year younger than him, she had grown a couple of inches over the summer, though without loss to her dreamy, dotty nature.  
  
"Hi," replied Luna, a cooking guide perched atop her stack of schoolbooks. "You've heard about the veil?"  
  
Remembering his conversation with Ron, Harry nodded.  
  
"Want to go?"  
  
"Er ..what?" Harry stared at her, confused.  
  
"I thought you said you knew," said Luna.  
  
"I don't think I know what you know," Harry replied. "What d'you know?" 


	4. Veiled

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
Veiled  
  
"The veil," Luna repeated. "I can take you there, beyond it. The Ministry discovered some things ..tomorrow night is Halloween, the only time people can pass freely between the realms without consequence."  
  
Harry hesitated, then grinned nervously. "Yeah, of course. Are you sure about this?"  
  
"I've given it a lot of thought," replied Luna, eyes focusing on a point beyond Harry. A gentle smile graced her features, and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "I have to give my mother something."  
  
"All right," said Harry. "I'll meet you down here in the common room during the feast tomorrow."  
  
"I'll be here."  
  
"See you later," Harry responded, breaths quickening. He wasn't aware that his legs were taking him to his dormitory where the shards of Sirius's mirror lay at the bottom of his trunk. He rummaged through it hastily, relaxing only when he felt the pieces. He pulled out his wand and said clearly, "Reparo!"  
  
The shards of glass flew together and into the frame. Harry looked into it, his own reflection filling the space.  
  
"I'm coming, Sirius," he said. Harry then set the mirror gently back into his trunk and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.  
  
The next day seemed to pass like a blur before Harry. Dazedly he went to his classes, and when it was time for dinner, it seemed like a breath of fresh air -he'd just woken up from a great slumber.  
  
He raced to the Gryffindor common room. Luna was already there, sitting neatly on a chintz armchair.  
  
"Ready?" asked Harry breathlessly. Luna nodded.  
  
"Let's go," she said simply.  
  
Harry had never wondered how they were going to get there -the year before, they'd ridden thestrals to the Department of Mysteries.  
  
"I have some meat," said Luna, as though reading his thoughts. "For the thestrals."  
  
They crossed the field towards Hagrid's hut, but turned away and headed for the forest instead. On another occasion in a different life, Harry might have cracked a grin -he and his friends had gone into the so-called "Forbidden" forest so many times, he'd lost count. But this was now, and he would soon be on his way to the Department of Mysteries to ..  
  
To what? A little voice in his mind asked. What did he expect to find there? Ghosts drifting beneath the veil's ragged edges, crossing effortlessly from one world to the next? Did he, perhaps, hope to see Sirius's lean and untidy body sprawled across the steps leading to the dais, grinning at him, Harry, as he entered the Room of Death?  
  
"Can people come back from the dead, Luna?" Harry asked as they stopped on the outskirts of the forest. Luna held the meat high, wafting the smell to penetrate the dense foliage.  
  
"You want to resurrect Sirius," stated Luna simply. Then she shook her head. "It can't be done. Sirius can't be brought back into this world."  
  
Harry nodded, then caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of his eye. Three thestrals were approaching him and Luna, rugged, ghostlike bodies trotting easily through the night and fog.  
  
Harry swung his body to sit astride the thestral nearest to him. To his right, Luna was already mounted.  
  
"Ready?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Harry squeezed his heels into the creature's sides and flattened himself against its neck, wrapping his hands around chunks of the black mane. It leapt into the sky, wingbeats stirring the air against Harry's cheeks. Luna rode alongside, sitting easily.  
  
After what seemed like hours, they touched down outside the Ministry of Magic. Harry hurriedly got them through the visitor center and down into the dark corridor that had always been lit by torches in his dreams. Their footsteps clattered noisily as they headed for the circular room.  
  
Harry opened the door and realized that he didn't remember which door the Room of Death led to. He and Luna checked all the doors, marking each as they shut it again, until there was only one door that they had not tried. He caught her eye and nodded, willing his heart to slow its breathless racing. He extended a hand, touching the doorknob. His fingers clasped the handle briefly, then pulled the door open.  
  
It looked the same as it had the night Sirius had gone through. There were no bodies strewn about, no ghosts fluttering eerily through the still night air. Harry pulled Sirius's mirror out of his pocket. Luna's presence left his mind as he stepped forward cautiously to the veil. Once again he felt rather than heard the voices, the presence of people lurking just out of sight. He whipped his head around, trying to catch them off guard, but saw no one.  
  
Then it registered that he was not alone. Luna was wandering around, eyes closed and face raised as though an angel was bestowing a blessing upon her. She was not watching.  
  
Harry started up the steps as though in slow motion, then picked up speed and flung himself through the veil.  
  
"Harry!" cried Luna, tearing herself away from her graced trance.  
  
-----  
  
"Would you look at that," said a tall, dark haired man.  
  
"I would," replied another man, thin with black hair and glasses. "I dunno Padfoot, it's just one of those gits who chuck themselves in here every Halloween."  
  
"I know that," replied the first man. "Merlin, Prongs, you underestimate me."  
  
"Let's welcome him, then," James Potter said to his friend. "Find out why he's here?"  
  
"Does it really matter?" asked Sirius sulkily. "Either way, he's dead."  
  
"In twenty-four hours," corrected James.  
  
"Hey Prongs, this visit has been really great. You're sure you have to go back?"  
  
"Yeah," James said heavily, lowering his head. "If I stay in the wrong world -that is to say, the world behind this veil, the dementors .."  
  
"Alright, alright, I hear you," Sirius said. "I suppose the same would happen if I tried to follow you back to your world?"  
  
"The very same."  
  
"So where are all these new arrivals going to go?" Sirius frowned slightly.  
  
James shuddered. "They're still alive when they go through, so they're getting pushed into the middle ground, I guess. Unless they can overcome the dementors, they can sort themselves into whichever world."  
  
Sirius became quiet just then, sitting moodily to the side, listening intently.  
  
-----  
  
There was a silence so mute it was deafening, a roaring wind whistling past his ears and his vision clouded by blurry haze. There was a ring of endless light to his front and right, and he crawled through the shadows towards it. He didn't know why, there was just a natural attraction that drew him to it, if only he could make it -  
  
The cold gripped him suddenly, enveloping him in its clammy, rattling grasp. Harry blanched. The light was extinguished, and he didn't know up from down anymore. He knew what it was ..he heard the slow, deliberate breaths, felt the slick hands feel the air inches away from his face. But he was afraid to back up, knowing that there was more than one, much more than one.  
  
Harry whipped out his wand and held it high over his head, bellowing, "Expecto Patronum!" He concentrated on the single most happy thought he could. As the idea of finding Sirius, of being reunited with his godfather burst into his mind, a dazzling white stag erupted from the tip of his wand, circling around him and driving off the dementors. But then in the light cast by his Patronus's glow, Harry saw a dementor cast away his hood and extend its hands still farther towards Harry's neck.  
  
"No!" he gasped, struggling to hold onto his happy thought. "Expecto -Expecto Patronum!"  
  
His stag was fading, its light was going out.  
  
"Sirius!" Harry shouted, sweat running down his face as he tried to refocus his thoughts. "Expecto patronum!"  
  
-----  
  
Sirius rose quickly. He knew that voice, knew the name it was calling. He'd only heard one person shout that particular spell that particular way, and he knew who it was by the calling.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked James.  
  
"Prongs, old man," said Sirius, gripping his friend's arm tightly. "It's Harry. Harry's here, fighting the dementors."  
  
James's face was terrible to watch. It paled, then contorted into a series of raw emotion. Then it slackened and his eyes lowered, lips firmly pressed together. His eyebrows knitted together.  
  
"Why -is -he -here?" he snarled breathlessly, pushing past Sirius and sprinting towards the field of darkness that lay just beyond his vision. Sirius followed, heart in his throat. And then he nearly stopped dead at the realization Harry had called for him, not James. Somehow he forced himself to keep running, pursuing the shadows that were attacking Harry.  
  
Then Sirius heard his name called again, louder and closer this time. He picked up speed, passing James. Then he stumbled as his friend knocked him in the chest. They were on the borders of the darkness now, just two figures prowling the edges of the original home of dementors.  
  
Rage filled Sirius's being. James -his best friend in the world -was preventing him from seeing Harry. He scrambled to his feet, then James clouted him again, pinning him to the ground.  
  
"SIRIUS!" he bellowed. "You CANNOT go in there!"  
  
"Oh yeah?" retorted Sirius breathlessly, struggling against James. "And why not?"  
  
"It will be the end of you, and you will never be able to see Harry again!"  
  
"I'm already dead, I've been here way past twenty four hours."  
  
"No -I mean, you will vanish for good. Now you have some form, you can talk to me and I can talk to you. If you go in there, you'll be gone. Do you understand me?"  
  
"I can fight them off," Sirius protested bitterly, fists still beating against James's gangly body. "I did before."  
  
James rolled his eyes. "Padfoot, you're still recovering from what happened last time. Fine, maybe you did make it past them -but barely. Listen to me -just wait here for Harry to come out. I know he'll be alright -he's faced dementors before."  
  
Sirius sat resolutely still on the grass, staring intently into the inky blackness. "Harry!" he called. "HARRY! Don't give in!"  
  
-----  
  
Harry froze at the sound of Sirius's voice, so near and yet so far away. Yet it gave him strength, and with a last surge of energy, he shouted to the night, "Expecto Patronum!" His stag grew stronger and brighter than ever, such was its potency that Harry could not stare into the light directly. He raised a hand to shield his eyes. When he lowered it, the dementors were gone, and the spiral of light had reappeared. Hands still gripping his wand tightly, he moved forward cautiously.  
  
He eventually reached the ring of light, and he stuck his head through, looking around. Then his stomach jolted unpleasantly, and he squirmed, trying to control the eruption in his soul.  
  
His father sat on the grass, eyes widening at first when he saw his son, but then smiled. Sirius was pulling at the grass moodily, then as he saw Harry, a grin replaced his solemn expression. His eyes lit up, then darkened. He frowned.  
  
Harry scrambled through the ring of light, falling into this world of light. On second glance, his father's smile looked rather strained.  
  
James walked forward to hug Harry uncertainly, while Sirius stood off to the side, watching James and Harry stonily.  
  
Harry had dreamed of this moment for so long, being able to finally meet his father should have been a dream come true -but it felt like a hollow victory. He backed out of James's embrace uncomfortably as he realized that the only person he could ever call his father was Sirius.  
  
-----  
  
Luna mounted her thestral and flew back to Hogwarts, a dark streak against the silvery moon.  
  
Several hours later, she stood outside Dumbledore's office. The gargoyles sprang aside and Dumbledore emerged.  
  
"Ah, Ms. Lovegood," he said quietly. "What brings you here?"  
  
"It's Harry," replied Luna thickly. "He went through the veil." 


End file.
